Downpour
by Victoria LeRoux
Summary: He hates the rain. It brings back too many memories of a lost, lonely little boy screaming beside a body, waiting for someone to hear him.


Title: Downpour  
Summary: He hates the rain. It brings back to many memories of a lost, lonely little boy screaming beside a body, waiting for someone to hear him.  
Characters: Tony D.  
Rating: T, for mention of death.  
A/N: Happy Tony torture day? Today it's all mental torture… but please review? Written because of all of the lovely, soothing rain that's been going on because of the hurricane down south.

_Rain, rain,  
Go away,  
Come again another day._

_Splish, splish, splash._

He gritted his teeth at the sound of the water falling around the building, threatening to wash away the mask he hid around himself.

_Drop. Drop. Drop._

Tony clenched his fist as the downpour continued, drawing his thoughts away from the calm NCIS headquarters, and instead, to a day years ago, where the rain threatened to wash away his life.

_Splish, splash._

The sound filled his ears, and he closed his eyes for just a moment, forgetting the warm colors of the building, and instead, remembering the day he began to sculpt his mask into existence.

_Drop, drop, drop._

"_Tony, stay away from the edge of the street," the woman called to him, and he glanced back, a cheeky smile on his face._

"_Okay, mom," he told her. The eight-year-old loved his mom- she was sweet, she was nice, and she loved him. She cared for him a lot more than his father did, she was always there. Every night they were a family, but his mom always tucked him in, kissed his forehead, and bid him a cheerful and loving 'Good-night, Tony.'_

_Yeah, Anthony loved him mom, and knew that she loved him just as much as he loved her._

_The young child skipped back to the center of the sidewalk, twirling in the water as he watched his mother shake her head at his antics. She was covered safely by an umbrella, but didn't mind laughing as Tony trotted on ahead, water soaking through his expensive Sunday-school clothes._

"_Don't jump in any puddles," she warned him, her eyes narrowed playfully, "Or you could get sick and have to go to the hospital."_

_Tony made a face, sticking out his tongue. "Yuck," he told her._

_The cars washed by, ignorant to the denizens walking on the pavement. When Tony began wandering to close to the curb, one whooshed by, sending a wave of muddy water onto him._

"_Tony!" his mom called to him reproachfully. "Are you okay?" her voice was worried, and she was fretting. That was what Tony didn't like about his mom- she always fretted and worried like a mother hen, panicking when a small scrape appeared on his elbow._

"_Yeah mom," he reassured her, sulking as even the inner layer of his clothing was soaked through. "I'm fine," he assured her, and she smiled._

"_Come on," she held out a hand to him, and he shook his head._

"_Mom, look at the ocean!" he pointed down the slope, towards the ocean that was in turmoil. Normally it was calm and peaceful, with gentle waves, but today, the waves crashed against the shore._

"_Tony, don't go down there," she ordered, but he was already leaving the pavement._

"_It'll just be a peek!" he gave her another cheeky grin and dashed onto the sand._

_Drop, drop, drop._

"Grab your gear, we got a body!" Gibbs breezed into the room, and for a second, Tony didn't move, still caught up in the turmoil of emotions that memory always brought him. "DiNozzo, ya hear me?" Gibbs snapped, and Tony snapped his head up. Kate was already in the elevator, bag in hand, and Gibbs stood by her.

"Right, coming Boss," Tony answered, trotting into the elevator, the doors swishing closed behind him. "Sorry," he said once they were closed. A hand met the back of his head, "Right, sign of weakness Boss," he mumbled, and heard Kate snort. If only the two of them knew the real weakness he was feeling.

Kate was the first out of the elevator, and Gibbs paused, glancing at Tony. "You okay, DiNozzo?" he asked, and Tony resisted the urge to make a sarcastic remark.

"I'm good Boss," Tony looked straight at the suspicious blue eyes, his face open and innocent. Gibbs wasn't fooled, but Tony watched him nod and turn away, accepting that some things weren't meant to be said aloud.

As they entered the car for the hour long drive, the rain rushed over the streets.

_Splish, splash._

"_Tony, get back here!" his mother's voice was alarmed, but he didn't turn around. The fierce rolling waves had caught his attention, and he wanted to get a closer look._

"_Be right back, mom!" he told her cheerfully, whirling to give her a wink. His foot slipped on a slick patch of seaweed he hadn't noticed, and he waved his arms frantically to try to catch his balance as he realized her was too close to the water. The next wave that came washed higher than before and swept him off his feet, dragging him below into the water._

"_Tony!" he heard his mom scream as his head went under. He came back to the surface as the wave swept him back, gasping for air. His mom rushed down the slope and dashed into the water, not pausing until she reached the spot he had been swept out towards. The water was past her waist, and there was a dangerous undertow that threatened to pull them both down. She reached down and pulled Tony out of the water, the waves fighting her. The strong-willed mother began fighting the water for every step that brought them closer to land, but one tremendous wave knocked them both off their feet._

_Tony screamed again as they were brought underwater, water filling his mouth. "Mom!" he tried to gasp out as his elbow jarred painfully against the pier- they were swept into the rocks. The boy found the water suddenly shallower, and began staggering to the unmoving form of his mother that was just a few feet away. The water knocked them closer to the shore, and he scrambled onto the sand, pulling her up with him._

_She wasn't moving, or breathing._

"_Mom!" his voice was an anguished sob as he looked around, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Somebody, help! Somebody!" no one answered Tony, and he sat on the edge of the beach, shivering through cold and fear and shock and god-knows-what-else. "Anybody?" the last word was so forlorn, so broken, that it was a miracle he didn't shatter right there._

"_Please?" he whispered, in a choked prayer for help._

"_Somebody?"_

_No answer came, and he struggled to pull out her phone. No signal was available- the phone was completely dead._

_He was alone._

_Tony clenched his fists in the sand, ignoring the grit digging into his knees._

"_Please, somebody! Somebody please help her! Please!" his voice cracks, and he sits alone for hours, waiting for anybody to appear._

_No one notices the boy and his dead mother on the beach, everyone too busy going someplace to ignore the little boy, Tony DiNozzo, who had no place to be._

_On that day, he realized he was alone._

_Drop, drop, drop._

_Pitter-patter._

_Drop, drop, drop._

"DiNozzo!" the voice shook Tony into awareness and he jolted upright, nearly crashing into Gibbs. "Stop daydreaming, and get over here!" Gibbs commanded, stalking away.

"On it Boss!" Mask locked firmly into place, Tony scampered after his boss. The rain still tugging at his heartstrings, he stood beside Kate, snapping pictures of the dead body.

He refused to let the memories sweep him away.

_Drop, drop, drop._


End file.
